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Musicals: The Gold Collection

Various Artists
4 discs

0. DISC 1:
1. West Side Story, musical: America - Crouch End Festival Chorus/City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra/Helen Hobson/Paul Bateman
2. Annie, musical: Tomorrow - City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra/Helen Hobson/Paul Bateman
3. Annie Get Your Gun, musical: Anything You Can Do - City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra/Jason Howard/Paul Bateman
4. Annie Get Your Gun, musical: The Girl That I Marry / My Defences Are Down - City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra/Jason Howard/Paul Bateman
5. Aspects of Love, musical: Love Changes Everything - Chris Corcoran/Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Paul Bateman
6. Anything Goes, musical play: Anything Goes - City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra/Helen Hobson/Nic Raine
7. Cabaret, musical play: Cabaret - City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra/Helen Hobson/Paul Bateman
8. Cage Aux Folles, musical: I Am What I Am, La - Philharmonia Orchestra/Paul Bateman
9. Carmen Jones, musical play (adapted from Carmen by Oscar Hammerstein II): Dat's Love - Philharmonia Orchestra/Andrew Greenwood/Lesley Garrett
10. Cats, musical: Memory - Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Paul Bateman/Lesley Garrett
11. Cats, musical: Macavity: The Mystery Cat - Michele Hooper/Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Paul Bateman
12. Carousel, musical: Soliloquy - City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra/Jason Howard/Paul Bateman
13. Carousel, musical: If I Loved You - City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra/Jason Howard/Paul Bateman
14. Carousel, musical: You'll Never Walk Alone - Crouch End Festival Chorus/City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra/Jason Howard/Paul Bateman
0. DISC 2:
1. Chess, musical play: I Know Him So Well - City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra/Helen Hobson/Paul Bateman
2. Evita, musical: Don't Cry for Me Argentina - Crouch End Festival Chorus/Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Sharon Campbell/Paul Bateman
3. Evita, musical: Another Suitcase in Another Hall - Crouch End Festival Chorus/Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Sharon Campbell/Paul Bateman
4. Evita, musical: High Flying Adored - Keith Burns/Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Paul Bateman
5. Fantasticks, musical: Try to Remember, The - Crouch End Festival Chorus/City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra/John Langley/Paul Bateman
6. Fiddler on the Roof, musical: If I Were A Rich Man - City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra/John Langley/Paul Bateman
7. Gigi, musical: Gigi - City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra/Nic Raine
8. Guys and Dolls, musical: Luck Be a Lady - City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra/Nic Raine
9. Jesus Christ Superstar, musical: Superstar - Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Paul Bateman
10. Jesus Christ Superstar, musical: I Don't Know How to Love Him - Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Sharon Campbell/Paul Bateman
11. Jesus Christ Superstar, musical: Everything's Alright - Keith Burns/Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Sharon Campbell/Paul Bateman
12. Joseph & His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, musical: Close Very Door - Crouch End Festival Chorus/Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Paul Bateman
13. Kismet, musical (after works by Alexander Borodin): And This is My Beloved - Philharmonia Orchestra/Andrew Greenwood/Lesley Garrett
14. Kismet, musical (after works by Alexander Borodin): Stranger in Paradise - City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra/Jason Howard/Jill Washington/Paul Bateman
0. DISC 3:
1. Kiss Me Kate, musical: Where is the Life that Late I Led? - City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra/Jason Howard/Paul Bateman
2. Little Night Music, musical: Send in the Clowns, A - City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra/Helen Hobson/Paul Bateman
3. Miserables, musical: Bring Him Home, Les - Dave Willetts/Philharmonia Orchestra/Paul Bateman
4. Man of la Mancha, musical: The Impossible Dream - City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra/John Langley/Paul Bateman
5. Oklahoma!, musical: Oh! What a Beautiful Morning - City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra/Jason Howard/Paul Bateman
6. Oklahoma!, musical: The Surrey With the Fringe on Top - City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra/Jason Howard/Paul Bateman
7. Oklahoma!, musical: Oklahoma! - Crouch End Festival Chorus/City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra/Jason Howard/Paul Bateman
8. Phantom of the Opera, musical: Phantom of the Opera - Dave Willetts/Philharmonia Orchestra/Paul Bateman/Lesley Garrett
9. Phantom of the Opera, musical: Music of the Night - Philharmonia Orchestra/Paul Bateman
10. Phantom of the Opera, musical: All I Ask of You - Chris Corcoran/Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Paul Bateman/Lesley Garrett
11. Porgy and Bess, opera: Summertime - Philharmonia Orchestra/Andrew Greenwood/Lesley Garrett
12. Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, film score: Bless Your Beautiful Hide - City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra/Jason Howard/Paul Bateman
13. Show Boat, musical in 2 acts: Ol' Man River - City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra/Jason Howard/Paul Bateman
14. Show Boat, musical in 2 acts: Make Believe - City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra/Jason Howard/Jill Washington/Paul Bateman
0. DISC 4:
1. Sound of Music, musical: The Sound of Music, The - City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra/Helen Hobson/Paul Bateman
2. Sound of Music, musical: Climb Ev'ry Mountain, The - Crouch End Festival Chorus/City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra/Andy Williams/Paul Bateman
3. Sound of Music, musical: Edelweiss, The - Crouch End Festival Chorus/City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra/Helen Hobson/John Langley/Paul Bateman
4. South Pacific, musical: Some Enchanted Evening - City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra/John Langley/Paul Bateman
5. South Pacific, musical: Younger than Springtime - David Shannon/City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra/Paul Bateman
6. Starlight Express, musical: Starlight Express - Keith Burns/Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Paul Bateman
7. Sunset Boulevard, musical: Sunset Boulevard - Gerard Casey/Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Paul Bateman
8. Sunset Boulevard, musical: With One Look - Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Paul Bateman/Mary Carewe
9. Sunset Boulevard, musical: As If We Never Said Goodbye - Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Paul Bateman/Mary Carewe
10. Tell Me on a Sunday, musical (original version): Tell Me on a Sunday - Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Sharon Campbell/Paul Bateman
11. West Side Story, musical: Maria - David Shannon/City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra/Paul Bateman
12. West Side Story, musical: Tonight (The Balcony Scene) - Meredith Braun/City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra/Paul Bateman
13. West Side Story, musical: Somewhere - David Shannon/Meredith Braun/City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra/Paul Bateman
14. There's No Business Like Show Business, song (from "Annie Get your Gun") - Crouch End Festival Chorus/City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra/Helen Hobson/Paul Bateman
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Additional Info

Manufacturer Part Number (MPN): 3605
Credits

Producer James Fitzpatrick
Engineer Gary Thomas; John Timperley; Mike Ross-Trevor; Jan Holzner
Audio Mixer: Gareth Williams.
Liner Note Author: James Fitzpatrick.
Recording information: Angel Studios, Islington, London, England; Barrandov Smecky Soundstage, Prague, Czech Republic; Copthorne Studios, Maidenhead, England; Sony Whitfield Street Studios, London, England.
Arrangers: Mike Townend; Paul Bateman.
Looking at the cover of Silva Treasury's four-CD box set Musicals: The Gold Collection, the prospective buyer could be forgiven for assuming that the collection draws upon vintage recordings from original London cast albums. After all, the word "gold" is in the title, and the artist credit is to "stars of the London stage." But those who are familiar with Silva's other recordings, which tend to be newly made versions of classic film soundtracks, will not be surprised to discover that many of the label's usual performers, particularly the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and the Crouch End Festival Chorus, are on board, and that these are also new recordings. And the "stars of the London stage?" Well, they are Meredith Braun, Keith Burns, Sharon Campbell, Mary Carewe, Gerard Casey, Chris Corcoran, Keith Ferreira, Lesley Garrett, Helen Hobson, Michele Hooper, Christopher Howard, Jason Howard, Ria Jones, John Langley, David Shannon, Deborah Steel, Jill Washington, Dave Willetts, and Tania Williams. Don't feel bad if you've never heard of any of these "stars." In addition to the name performers who originate starring roles and open shows on Broadway and in the West End, there is a small army of talented artists who stand in for those real stars when they are sick or replace them in long-running shows, and those are the kind of singers heard on this album. For example, Dave Willetts, who sings five songs, including two from Phantom of the Opera, has, according to the liner notes, played the part of the Phantom in London and on tour for more than five years, and Jill Washington, who duets with Jason Howard on "Stranger in Paradise" from Kismet and "Make Believe" from Show Boat, has played the leading part of Christine in The Phantom of the Opera "more than any other actress in the world." As Britons, these performers, not surprisingly, got their real grounding in the Andrew Lloyd Webber-composed British musicals of the 1970s and '80s, as well as in Les Misrables, and they are at their best when performing songs from those shows, as they do on 19 tracks out of 56. They are less impressive on the older American material, including 11 songs composed by Richard Rodgers. And the two schools of musical do not sit well together, as they are more or less randomly interspersed on the four discs. The result is a long album of miscellaneous show music dating from the 1920s to the 1980s, recorded in the 21st century by professional, largely unknown performers. It will be of interest as a curiosity to theater music fans, but it does not deserve to be called a "gold collection" performed by "stars." ~ William Ruhlmann